Outcomes/HCAHPS/HAIs

HAI
Hospital Acquired Infections represent a significant threat to patients and consequently to a hospital’s reputation and bottom line. While many programs are being instituted across the country to combat HAIs, hospital housekeeping will remain on the front lines of this battle.

Infection control departments at our current clients have provided us with overwhelming evidence that the use of the XRO cleaning system has a direct positive correlation with reductions in HAIs.

Microbiological testing has been performed regularly at one of our client hospitals and, since the institution of the XRO system, has shown “low to normal” particulate level readings in every testing location – three consecutive times. These are results that have never happened before in ten years of testing.

Another client performed air quality monitoring and tested similar patient rooms being cleaned using two different methods – XRO versus traditional cleaning. The results showed significant lower particulate counts in the room cleaned using the XRO system. Depending on their size, airborne particles were between 400% to 600% more prevalent in the room that was cleaned using traditional methods rather than the XRO system.

In a third example, one hospital in a wider system contracted with Xanitos. It alone, among all the facilities in the system, had zero HAIs in its ICUs.

XRO is a proven, critical defense against HAIs.

Patient Satisfaction
Patient satisfaction with housekeeping is directly related to the patient’s awareness of the room cleaning process.  This awareness, plus a housekeeper who is visible and trained for meaningful patient interaction, are integral to the XRO system and will increase patient satisfaction scores in third party surveys and HCAHPS.

Here are some of the ways we reinforce the thoroughness of our cleaning process to increase patient awareness of the efforts made on their behalf.

  • Our room cleaning teams are trained to be hospitable and politely interactive with patients.
  • Bathrooms are finished with toilet strips and V-Tip toilet paper folds.
  • Tent cards are used to inform sleeping or absent patients that their room has been cleaned.
  • Daily vacuuming of floors, air vents and soft furniture, draws the patient’s attention to our thorough cleaning.
  • We provide a “Freshen-Up Service” in which we check/clean each patient’s room later in the day, in addition to the thorough daily cleaning. During these Freshen-Up cleans, our staff asks “is there anything that we can do for you?” providing an opportunity for positive interaction with each patient.
  • Our XRO system actually has three separate visits by housekeepers to clean the room, plus an additional visit for the Freshen-Up clean. These four visits reduce the chances that the patient may be unaware that the room was cleaned, and gives more opportunity for patient interaction.
  • We schedule at least one thorough inspection of the housekeeping quality standards of a patient’s room while the patient is present. This inspection can include testing of “touch points” with an ultraviolet light to determine that they have been thoroughly cleaned.
  • A patient ambassador will visit every new admission.

The combination of these thorough and proactive techniques makes a significant difference in patient satisfaction scores.